wandering_seal's review against another edition
5.0
I have been thinking a lot about how I wanted to rate and review this book. There were times reading this that I felt deeply uncomfortable. I had read the content warning so I knew not to assume a HEA, and I wasn't sure what one would look like for these guys. I was deeply worried about the pregnancy termination plot line (right now I'm on my mat leave, and have never been into pregnancy and children in romance stories). But I had seen a post from the author where she mentioned that this was her favourite of her books and it seemed so different to her other books that I wanted to know why.
I get the poor reviews for this book. This is not a healthy relationship, and the story doesn't end with everything sorted out. But unlike some of the reviewers I disagree with the idea that Greyson was an unredeemable asshole. It felt to me that they were trying to meet each other where they were at, and at times they clearly failed but there was never an absence of affection. He set the initial tone in their relationship, and Vanessa then made a decision to continue it the way they did. I didn't like they both were sleeping around considering they were hurting each other in doing so, but it's a story about a toxic relationship- I'm not meant to like what they are doing to each other. The complexity of their relationship, my discomfort and eventual happiness that they should be able to work it out is why this was a five star read for me.
I want to mention the termination of a pregnancy plot. Like I said at the top, I don't like to read about pregnancy in my romance. This can be a problem in shifter books where breeding kinks tend to come up a lot. These sorts of books also tend to have really dominant, aggressive males that you struggle to think would actually make good fathers, regardless of the way the stories are written out. That's borne out in this story, where the werewolf family dynamic is repeatedly shown as being problematic: Greyson's father is deeply manipulative towards his children, and the characters are involved in providing shelter to women and children escaping abusive relationships. In this context Vanessa having an abortion felt incredibly important. She's able to see that children are not currently right for her or for Greyson, she doesn't see why she should change her life course at that time, and she makes a decision that is hard and uncomfortable but that is at no point treated as a negative reflection on herself, or one that should have any bearing on her future choices. In a genre dominated by women falling pregnant and having babies seeing an alternative seems incredibly importany to me. I felt C.M. Nascosta handled it beautifully.
Right I probably have more I could say on this and yet this is also the longest review I've ever left on a smut read so I'm going to stop now and stew on this book a little longer. And then go and find some fluff. Still a good story though.
I get the poor reviews for this book. This is not a healthy relationship, and the story doesn't end with everything sorted out. But unlike some of the reviewers I disagree with the idea that Greyson was an unredeemable asshole. It felt to me that they were trying to meet each other where they were at, and at times they clearly failed but there was never an absence of affection. He set the initial tone in their relationship, and Vanessa then made a decision to continue it the way they did. I didn't like they both were sleeping around considering they were hurting each other in doing so, but it's a story about a toxic relationship- I'm not meant to like what they are doing to each other. The complexity of their relationship, my discomfort and eventual happiness that they should be able to work it out is why this was a five star read for me.
I want to mention the termination of a pregnancy plot. Like I said at the top, I don't like to read about pregnancy in my romance. This can be a problem in shifter books where breeding kinks tend to come up a lot. These sorts of books also tend to have really dominant, aggressive males that you struggle to think would actually make good fathers, regardless of the way the stories are written out. That's borne out in this story, where the werewolf family dynamic is repeatedly shown as being problematic: Greyson's father is deeply manipulative towards his children, and the characters are involved in providing shelter to women and children escaping abusive relationships. In this context Vanessa having an abortion felt incredibly important. She's able to see that children are not currently right for her or for Greyson, she doesn't see why she should change her life course at that time, and she makes a decision that is hard and uncomfortable but that is at no point treated as a negative reflection on herself, or one that should have any bearing on her future choices. In a genre dominated by women falling pregnant and having babies seeing an alternative seems incredibly importany to me. I felt C.M. Nascosta handled it beautifully.
Right I probably have more I could say on this and yet this is also the longest review I've ever left on a smut read so I'm going to stop now and stew on this book a little longer. And then go and find some fluff. Still a good story though.
mom_is_reading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
its_aislinn's review against another edition
2.0
Neither MC was good. The woman in this story had no self respect, and the male was allowed to go unchecked the entire time. I strongly dislike them both and found this story to be my least favorite out of this authors entire backlog
fiadhnd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
**Most of my reviews contain detailed Content Notes (including CW/TW) sections, which may include spoilers. I have tried to mark them appropriately, but please use caution.**
Ebook
3.75/5
Summary: Associate lawyer and wolf shifter FMC meets one of the upper level members of her firm (also a shifter) and sparks fly - both have abrasive personalities and clash over years - with a side of ritual public sex.
Stats: Fantasy - PNR (Alternate CR), M/F, dual shifter, open door, stand alone.
Notes: I really struggled with this - not because I didn’t enjoy it (I did), but because the time jumps and “starting at the end” really didn’t work for my brain. I also feel like this is light on the connection between the two characters - there’s lots of sex/interpersonal tension, but I wasn’t feeling a lot of love - it’s very implicit, and I prefer more explicit development there. I did like that neither character is a very nice person, and the author doesn’t “reform” them, but maybe that also made it hard for me to see this as an HEA ending - it seems like they’re going to have a lot more growing to do together after the final chapter. I was stalled at 37% for weeks, but once I got going with it again, I did rip through the last half of the book - it was definitely entertaining and interesting to read.
OTT and Spoilery Content Notes:
heat suppressant medication (with side effects), birth control, public sex, groping by strangers (consensual), attorney MCs, stressful employment (to the point of making the FMC regularly vomit), FMC imagines sexually torturing the MMC several times in a variety of ways, chase/primal kink, uncut MMC, social/class gap, MMC with migraines/hypertension, FMC has sex with someone else in revenge, MMC and FMC both have sex with other people after starting a sexual relationship with each other, child (side character), FMC/MMC don't want children, knotting, biting/marking, shifted sex (single/both partners shifted), humiliation (kink), whiny dom, some switching power play, FMC is terrible at blow jobs, edging, unintentional pregnancy, abortion, restraint of hands during sex (with hands), workplace romance, workplace gossip/conflict, employer/employee relationship, mentions of trafficking of minors, joke about alcoholism, alcohol, fantasy religion, exhibitionism, joke about firebombing
Ebook
3.75/5
Summary: Associate lawyer and wolf shifter FMC meets one of the upper level members of her firm (also a shifter) and sparks fly - both have abrasive personalities and clash over years - with a side of ritual public sex.
Stats: Fantasy - PNR (Alternate CR), M/F, dual shifter, open door, stand alone.
Notes: I really struggled with this - not because I didn’t enjoy it (I did), but because the time jumps and “starting at the end” really didn’t work for my brain. I also feel like this is light on the connection between the two characters - there’s lots of sex/interpersonal tension, but I wasn’t feeling a lot of love - it’s very implicit, and I prefer more explicit development there. I did like that neither character is a very nice person, and the author doesn’t “reform” them, but maybe that also made it hard for me to see this as an HEA ending - it seems like they’re going to have a lot more growing to do together after the final chapter. I was stalled at 37% for weeks, but once I got going with it again, I did rip through the last half of the book - it was definitely entertaining and interesting to read.
OTT and Spoilery Content Notes:
spellbookspines's review against another edition
3.0
Unexpected migraine rep!!
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion
ladysadiereads's review against another edition
4.0
Not going to lie this one took me a minute to get into! I adore CMN’s work and have been lucky enough to be a Patreon of theirs for over a year. (It is a blast!) But while I adored Vanessa and how feisty she is - Grayson really is a piece of work! Pure alphahole on every page. I struggled with that - as I don’t get hate banging or enemies to lovers very often - but in the end I once again adored it and was left going… wait am I in to this?
after_i_finish_this_chapter's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
amhren's review against another edition
3.5
I admit I went blind into this and wasn't sure what to expect. While on the shorter side, this story covers 6 years of relationship between Vanessa and Grayson, and their journey from hate on first sight to love, from reluctant spiteful colleagues to claiming each other. It was quite angst-y, and the relationship was more on the toxic side especially with how both of them consciously tried to hurt the other one, especially when the relationship was coming to an end, however the ending was satisfying if not as clear cut as I'd have liked it to be. I'm also not sure how to feel about Jess having an abortion, which was never discussed with Grayson on page, despite her saying she plans on telling him. That and them clearly assuming things about the other re: their relationship leaves you apprehensive as you're reading the story. It's definitely different from the usual HEA story, but still has you hooked. Excellent spice!
readwjessica's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
julianam's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0